Alta states: Making it work

Bob Styan’s life after ski racing

"If you really want to be successful," he says finally, "you have to embrace adversity. You can't just fold every time you meet a challenge. I learned a lot about that in ski racing. View the tough times as opportunities for learning. And never get complacent. In business like in sport, complacency is the kiss of death..."

Today Bob is back at Whistler and still working as sales manager for Playground. "I guess I must be one of the last holdouts from the original group," he says with a near-giggle. "But after being away for 15 years, it feels really great to be on the Coast again."

There's a sense of place here, he says, that he doesn't feel anywhere else. "Driving up the Sea to Sky Highway, checking out the Tantalus Mountains to the west, watching the Cheakamus River flowing to the sea. It all feels so familiar to me. Whistler is my home. This is where I want to retire."